You need to be advocating for yourself when it comes to career opportunities, for raises, for promotions, to be on high visibility projects, for time off, for the right boundaries, and the list goes on. I am particularly speaking to the group of Finance and Accounting professionals who are truly dedicated and don’t ask for much in return. It’s time that you get rewarded for your hard work and you need to take action for these to happen. Start advocating for yourself and for your advancement today. No more accepting the first no you hear when it comes to asking for something beneficial for you. Advocate for key opportunities and advocate for yourself.
Episode outline:
Please connect with me:
1. Instagram: stephen.mclain
2. Twitter: smclainiii
3. Facebook: stephenmclainconsultant
4. LinkedIn: stephenjmclainiii
Consider joining The Finance Leader Podcast Community Facebook Group, where we can talk leadership and the other topics I present here on the podcast. https://www.facebook.com/groups/financeleaderpodcast This is a good time to jump in and start sharing ideas and thoughts about leadership so we can help each other.
For more resources, please visit stephenmclain.com. On the website, you can download the Leadership Growth Blueprint for Finance and Accounting Managers. You can use this guide to develop your leadership by focusing on communication, and growing and empowering your team.
You can now purchase a course to help you advance your career from financeleaderacademy.com. It's called Advance Your Finance and Accounting Career: Developing a Promotion Strategy that Sets You Apart.
You need to be advocating for yourself when it comes to career opportunities, for raises, for promotions, to be on high visibility projects, for time off, for the right boundaries, and the list goes on. I am particularly speaking to the group of Finance and Accounting professionals who are truly dedicated and don’t ask for much in return. It’s time that you get rewarded for your hard work and you need to take action for these to happen. Start advocating for yourself and for your advancement today. No more accepting the first no you hear when it comes to asking for something beneficial for you. Advocate for key opportunities and advocate for yourself.
Episode outline:
Please connect with me:
1. Instagram: stephen.mclain
2. Twitter: smclainiii
3. Facebook: stephenmclainconsultant
4. LinkedIn: stephenjmclainiii
Consider joining The Finance Leader Podcast Community Facebook Group, where we can talk leadership and the other topics I present here on the podcast. https://www.facebook.com/groups/financeleaderpodcast This is a good time to jump in and start sharing ideas and thoughts about leadership so we can help each other.
For more resources, please visit stephenmclain.com. On the website, you can download the Leadership Growth Blueprint for Finance and Accounting Managers. You can use this guide to develop your leadership by focusing on communication, and growing and empowering your team.
You can now purchase a course to help you advance your career from financeleaderacademy.com. It's called Advance Your Finance and Accounting Career: Developing a Promotion Strategy that Sets You Apart.
This week I am talking about how you need to be advocating for yourself. When it comes to career opportunities for raises for promotions, to be on high visibility projects for time off for the right boundaries, and the list goes on. I am particularly speaking to the group of finance and accounting professionals who are truly dedicated and don't ask for much in return. It's time that you get rewarded for your hard work and you need to take action for these to happen. start advocating for yourself and for your advancement today. No more accepting the first no you hear when it comes to asking for something beneficial for you. Advocate for key opportunities and advocate for yourself. Please enjoy the episode. Welcome to the finance leader podcast where leadership is bigger than the numbers. I am your host Stephen McLain. This is the podcast for developing leaders in finance and accounting. Please consider following me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. My usernames and the links are in this episode's show notes. And also, please join the Facebook group I have for this podcast community. Thank you. This is episode number 80. And we'll be talking about how you should be advocating for yourself and I will highlight the following topics. Number one, advocate for yourself because no one else will. Number two, you must clearly communicate your needs. Number three set healthy boundaries and expectations and for own your career and your future. Entrepreneur Jim Rohn said, either you run the day or the day runs you. You have to stand up for yourself. This is the heart and soul of self advocacy. You must speak up a must take advantage of every benefit you are owed including to pay time off. Take your vacation time and don't let anyone persuade you into giving up your days off these are built into your compensation package. More importantly, I want you to advocate for yourself regarding your career, have courage, and take risks to go after high visibility projects that can elevate your credibility and to also apply for roles that will move your career along you must believe in yourself. So you do not miss out on opportunities that others are already getting. Some of you have no problem with speaking up for yourself. So this episode is not necessarily for you. But you can help your team become more vocal about ensuring they get the opportunities and even taking advantage of their benefits package. Additionally, you need to be advocating for yourself regarding everything at work, including for raises and perks. You need to fight back against inaccurate performance evaluations and those raises. You need to fight for access to key meetings and access to the right people. So you can do your job better and also to find new opportunities. You also need to advocate for yourself if your supervisor is not letting you do your job if your supervisor is choking away your creativity and your ability to be innovative or if your supervisor shows insecurity and feels threatened by you. If this is happening. You need to find the courage to speak with their supervisor. So you find peace. You have the right to work in peace without a micromanager harassing you every few minutes because they may be insecure, or trying to control every action. Advocate for yourself. So you don't have to be abused by an overly controlling supervisor. In episode 40. I talked about stop playing it safe. And in Episode 57, I talked about owning your career. These are episodes in the same discussion about advocating for yourself. You need to be your own spokesperson for what you want to accomplish, how you should be treated at work and in life, and how you interact with everyone in your world. And sure your voice is heard. And you get to move your career along to I know you have skills and ability. But you have to go after what matters. So you get rewarded for your hard work. You can be a team player all day. But if you are not reaping rewards in the long run, you need to be more vocal and maybe find someplace else so you can grow. Here's something to think about. Have you ever negotiated your compensation package are just accepted what was offered? I want you to think back about one accepting a new role. Who determined your worth them are you? I want you to determine your worth and what you bring to the organization. This is a mindset issue and how you view yourself and how much courage you have to acknowledge what you offer. Do you have the confidence to understand and to translate your skills and abilities to a value that you will not regret later. When we begin to advocate for ourselves to better shape our outcome, we are overcoming the status quo in our own minds. So I want you to realize and be rewarded for your true value, and don't be afraid to ask for it. Ultimately, this topic is about stepping out of your comfort zone, doing something different thinking different. Also, it means you will shape your world instead of letting the world shape you. I'm asking you to take more action to set yourself up for success. And to create a more fulfilling life and a career for yourself. At the end of each day, how did that day unfold? Were you proactive and ensured you shaped the interactions? or did others do that to you change your mindset, so you change your outcome. Now, let's talk about how you should be advocating for yourself. Number one, advocate for yourself because no one else will. You must own your career and your life. Don't expect anyone to stand up for you. And don't expect anyone to speak up for you. You have to do it. You have to speak up for what you want to accomplish, and what you deserve in life. And in your career. If you see an opportunity, you have to go after it. If you believe there's an imbalance, you have to correct it. If you are working in misery and not speaking up, you have to blame yourself. Most people can't see what you're dealing with. If you speak up in a professional manner, most leaders will respond positively. You have nothing to lose by asking for what you believe you deserve. So speak up. Number two, you must clearly communicate your needs. You need to communicate any resources you may need or anything else you require. To do your job effectively. Your leadership should be resourcing you based on expectations and workload. So, do focus on what you need to meet these expectations. And if you can't, he must communicate that be reasonable. But speak up if there's a gap between what you're being asked to do, and how you're able to do it. Have the conversation with your leadership. Wherever there is a lack of resources don't let up. Do the analysis. Make a solid argument for the resources you need? Or something that will make the organization better never stop communicating what you need? Number three, set healthy boundaries and expectations. Do you think you have healthy boundaries at work or even in your life? What do I mean by a healthy boundary, this is where you are being treated fairly and with dignity and you are not being abused. You will also need space to do your work without your supervisor constantly taking your time because they are communicating and are expecting hyper responsiveness, you need uninterrupted time so you can produce a high quality work product. The boundaries set today are there because you let them be there. So set the boundaries you need. So you can grow and develop in a healthy and positive way. Number four, own your career and your future. I have been encouraging you for quite a while to write down your goals. To do this effectively. You also need to know what you want to accomplish and what you want to do in your life in your career. Your individual development plan is a great starting place in developing the idea and a plan for your life. And then the next step is to put it in action. You have to take a few steps forward, and then take some action, which may require you to step out of your comfort zone. Again, if you missed it. Please go back and listen to episode 57 about owning your career. When you own your career, you own your goals, and you will find the courage to go after what you want. Don't fear it. Go get it so you'll have no regrets. finance and accounting people are often quiet professionals working and agonizing in silence. They are often agonizing over horrible work processes, a lack of resources and an antiquated financial system that creates more work. It's time to speak up about solutions to help out whatever is lacking. How can you influence your work environment better? Now for action today? I want you to ask yourself, here are a few questions. Do you have any regrets in your current work situation? Because you are not advocating for yourself? Are you missing out on opportunities to advance yourself? Are you taking your paid time off? Do you have healthy boundaries with your co workers and with your supervisor? Can you do something better to create a more positive outcome? If any of these questions triggered some thinking or some doubt? If you are in a good place that I want you to make some changes, professional changes. I want you to use your voice to speak up and also to take action to get yourself in a better place. In this podcast. I am an advocate for leadership to develop Your leadership skills and for you to become a leader everywhere you are, no matter your role, a leader takes action. A leader uses their influence to make positive change. So this is why you must be an advocate for yourself. So you create a positive experience for yourself and transform into a leader who can influence positive change for others and the organization. become the leader I know you can become and start today by thinking differently, not accepting the status quo, and taking growth oriented action to make a difference. Today, I talked about you advocating for yourself and I highlighted the following points. Number one, advocate for yourself because no one else will. Number two, you must clearly communicate your needs. Number three, set healthy boundaries and expectations and for own your career and your future. Last week in Episode 79, I talked about how leaders should be creating a more positive work environment. But this week, I am encouraging you to speak up and advocate for yourself if your leader fails to follow through. You must speak up for yourself and you must ensure you're getting opportunities to you must ensure you are resource properly. And you must take advantage of the benefits and compensation package you have like paid time off. Don't work in misery every day. If you feel there's an imbalance in how you're being treated. Are you working in a respectful environment? Are you producing high quality work but getting no opportunities? Are you working excessive hours due to a lack of proper resources or an imbalance in expectations? You can start advocating for yourself today, you can find the courage to speak up so you get the opportunities to move your career forward. And to make your work processes better. You can do it Start today. Today concludes season nine. I will be working on season 10 Over the next few weeks, which will debut on April 12. So over the next few weeks, I will be sharing a few encore episodes. I am very thankful for all of you who are listening and supporting this podcast. We are making a difference. We are growing leaders. I started the podcast just over two years ago and I was excited to see the listeners grow from just a few countries in the beginning. This week. I have listeners in 71 countries around the world and that is amazing. Thank you for the support. I am dedicated to helping you grow as a leader. So you make a positive difference. And so you advance your career. Thank you for everything. I hope you enjoyed the finance leader podcast. I am dedicated to helping you grow your leadership skills to change your mindset and to clarify your goals so you advance your career. You can find this episode wherever you listen to podcasts. If this episode helped you today, please share it with others. And please leave a quick review so that others may find the podcast. Until next time, you can check out more resources at finance leader academy.com and sign up for my weekly updates so you don't miss an episode of the show. And now go lead your team and I'll see you next time.
Unknown:Thank you